Two documentaries premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend are thousands of miles apart—in Nairobi, Kenya, and Texas, respectively—but the central theme of their stories is similar: the role of libraries in any healthy democracy. importance. And, in every one of the film's most striking scenes, there's also a plea: avoid wasting them.
Kim Snyder's “The Librarians” tells the story of a group of librarians known as the “Freedom Fighters” who resisted e-book bans in Texas, Florida, Iowa and beyond. Yet the urgency of this Sarah Jessica Parker-produced documentary is underscored by another film in the lineup: Maya Lecco and Christopher King’s Building the Library, about two A Kenyan girl is reviving the mission of a public library in the nation's capital, Nairobi.
Huachuca and Shiloh are the stars of the 103-minute film, which follows the intrepid couple's efforts to transform the town's formerly whites-only library, established by British settlers in 1932, into a cultural center. Showcasing the latest, this young art metropolis is here as we speak.
“I always thought this was a place where ideal movies could be made,” King said choose He flew over Zoom from his home in Nairobi just the night before he and Lekow (his wife and fellow director) flew to Park Metropolis for the film's premiere. “We're just ready to have some type of car to take us there and give us some kind of dramatic power.”
When Huachuca, whom they met years earlier in their mutual artistic circles, asked them to document her and Hero's efforts to save the Macmillan Library, King and Lecco realized this was their next film.
“Once we noticed the condition of the library and all these items that were unearthed in the library, we knew we would love to make a movie about ourselves,” Lecco said.
Much of the film was shot in the library's neoclassical building, whose exterior with its majestic granite columns and white marble trapezoidal staircase has remained in impressively intact condition since its construction. Inside, however, dirt piled up to the ceiling on top of untouched books and damaged furniture. By the end of the film, they manage to raise enough money through the event and a large community of artists, intellectuals, technology builders, architects, writers, creatives and intellectuals to, in their words, transform the area into “A room full of stories”, a heritage site, a site of public art and public memory. “
They named the indigenous military e-book Bunk, which is currently undergoing its final run at the Macmillan Library, at the end of the film, with the assistance of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja Renovation. Development is expected to start this year.
Below, Leko and Kim discuss the process of making “Building a Library” as two technical and life partners, working with Nairobi authorities to achieve their candid entry, and what they hope audiences will take away from the film about their Kenyan home :
How did this film come about in the first place?
Medium: We've known Shiro and Wachuka from a long time ago in film and music. Chris was doing some filming for Wachuka while Wachuka was working at Kenya's First Latest Publishing House. Then she talked about wanting to go into this library and try to transform it, and asked us to make some films for them. We went in to have a look, but then we realized we didn't really want to photograph them. After we learned about the condition of the library and the condition of all these unearthed items, we needed to make an unbiased documentary.
C: When I first came to Kenya in 2007, I was drawn to an exciting time in Nairobi's literary scene that was taking off with the rise of Kwani, the publishing house, the poets, and all these important thinkers . . This makes Nairobi an exciting place to be, and Wachuka plays a central role in organizing it all. I always thought that was the ideal place to shoot a movie. We're just ready for some type of car to get us in there and give us some kind of dramatic power.
But we also learned about dealing with paperwork, finding cash, the art economy in Nairobi with no infrastructure, and the reality of people just trying to make something from nothing. and [Wachuka and Shiro] Being tenacious enough to drag it off is the opposite factor. I think a lot of people have this concept of a library, but they are the ones who really have the network and the power. This is what keeps us going.
What kind of resistance, if any, did you encounter from the Nairobi authorities in getting the entry for the film you wanted?
Medium: Although our authorities are in fact very bureaucratic and it is really hard to infiltrate, I do feel that there are people in the authorities who want to help but may be a little overwhelmed. depth. So every politician we photographed — County Board of Education member Janet Oko and Governor Sakaja — were very open about it. Once we confirmed their idea, I felt like they were all very passionate about it. The question now is will they arrive early and allow the two girls to do what they want?
What tangible change do you hope this film will bring about?
Medium: Mainly giving Wachuka and Shiro the ability to realize their dream of being able to renovate, restore and build a library is something I feel a lot of people here will benefit from. But I also thought it might be interesting to guide and look at how we might start to have conversations with parliaments in the UK, but also in the US, where I feel like the whole conversation is around the campaign, Black Lives Matter and e-book bans. So we do think that there might be a variety of training that can happen through the influencer marketing campaigns that we're starting to do collectively.
C: We hope this story becomes a blueprint for Kenya and wider Africa. There are so many young visionaries with ideas and power, so they are moving towards projects that are not actually open to change. So if this film can simply help shift the needle and provide help to those who have the hope and inspiration to make a lot of these changes in their own communities, then that's actually what we want. The pitches and discussions we have throughout the film will hopefully help drive that forward.
You are both highly skilled partners and life partners. What does your workflow look like? How do you ensure that any stress or stress throughout the day doesn’t follow you?
Medium: Work is always with us. Generally the questions get intense, but what's fascinating is that I feel like Chris and I have completely different strengths, so once we work through these issues together, that's what allows us to work so well collectively and have Competence is what creates the work we are satisfied with. The truth is, like all relationships, there is a stable place where you shouldn't bring your work with you, you should let go of your work and then have family and residential time.
C: Although I feel like our three-year-old can tell us after we talk about work and when things get a little heated. She was like 'Stop it. Stop it, Mom! We'd say, “Okay, let's take this to the editing room again.” However, after we took the photo, Maya started recording the sound and I was using the camera. Each of us collectively solves this problem based on our shared gut type, which can be very comparable. I feel like now we have the unique ability to, no matter how creative, as long as what we predict is captivating or captivating, there's really no pressure whatsoever. I think we're pretty close on that. That's the grind of filmmaking when problematic types get serious.
What do you hope people will learn about Kenya, and Nairobi in particular, by watching this film?
Medium: This is one of the only films about the city of Nairobi. Whenever you watch a movie, especially a documentary, you don't actually see that, especially in an African context. This is so exciting and so recent. The fact is that there is a youth component here, especially now with what is happening here, we are seeing protests around the authorities and the tax department. So for me, for those who are outdoors, it's actually quite interesting to just see Nairobi and see what a metropolis it is. Like, that was the art team.
More broadly, with what's going on politically right now on the planet, even in different states and different places around the world, it's actually perfectly timed. How do we see our future? How do we want to be able to change the long-term goals of where we want to live? This will be a constructive conversation. Furthermore, the colonial dialogue – where everyone comes from different African countries and different colonial powers – has the ability to perceive and have the ability to see their stories within it. How does this story resonate with them? How will this allow them to see what has happened and will continue to happen?
